A Conceptual Framework to Support Digital Transformation in Manufacturing Using an Integrated Business Process Management Approach

Digital transformation is no longer a future trend, as it has become a necessity for businesses to grow and remain competitive in the market. The fourth industrial revolution, called Industry 4.0, is at the heart of this transformation, and is supporting organizations in achieving benefits that were unthinkable a few years ago. The impact of Industry 4.0 enabling technologies in the manufacturing sector is undeniable, and their correct use offers benefits such as improved productivity and asset performance, reduced inefficiencies, lower production and maintenance costs, while enhancing system agility and flexibility. However, organizations have found the move towards digital transformation extremely challenging for several reasons, including a lack of standardized implementation protocols, emphasis on the introduction of new technologies without assessing their role within the business, the compartmentalization of digital initiatives from the rest of the business, and the large-scale implementation of digitalization without a realistic view of return on investment. To instill confidence and reduce the anxiety surrounding Industry 4.0 implementation in the manufacturing sector, this paper presents a conceptual framework based on business process management (BPM). The framework is informed by a content-centric literature review of Industry 4.0 technologies, its design principles, and BPM method. This integrated framework incorporates the factors that are often overlooked during digital transformation and presents a structured methodology that can be employed by manufacturing organizations to facilitate their transition towards Industry 4.0

A Strategic Roadmap for the Manufacturing Industry to Implement Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 (also referred to as digitization of manufacturing) is characterized by cyber physical systems, automation, and data exchange. It is no longer a future trend and is being employed worldwide by manufacturing organizations, to gain benefits of improved performance, reduced inefficiencies, and lower costs, while improving flexibility. However, the implementation of Industry 4.0 enabling technologies is a difficult task and becomes even more challenging without any standardized approach. The barriers include, but are not limited to, lack of knowledge, inability to realistically quantify the return on investment, and lack of a skilled workforce. This study presents a systematic and content-centric literature review of Industry 4.0 enabling technologies, to highlight their impact on the manufacturing industry. It also provides a strategic roadmap for the implementation of Industry 4.0, based on lean six sigma approaches. The basis of the roadmap is the design for six sigma approach for the development of a new process chain, followed by a continuous improvement plan. The reason for choosing lean six sigma is to provide manufacturers with a sense of familiarity, as they have been employing these principles for removing waste and reducing variability. Major reasons for the rejection of Industry 4.0 implementation methodologies by manufactures are fear of the unknown and resistance to change, whereas the use of lean six sigma can mitigate them. The strategic roadmap presented in this paper can offer a holistic view of phases that manufacturers should undertake and the challenges they might face in their journey toward Industry 4.0 transition

Redesign of an In-Market Conveyor System for Manufacturing Cost Reduction and Design Efficiency Using DFMA Methodology

To remain competitive in the market, it is crucial to reduce the time and costs involved in product development. Design for manufacturing and assembly is an engineering methodology that can reduce costs without compromising reliability, performance and time to market objectives. This paper presents a case study for an in-market Table Top Chain (TTC) conveyor system used by a reputed company in Saudi Arabia. TTC conveyor systems are extensively used by major food companies around the world for transporting packaged bottles, glass and cans. There are three main types of these systems, i.e., straight running, side flexing and multiflex. This work focuses on the redesign of a side flexing TTC conveyor system. The existing design of the TTC conveyor system was analysed using the DFMA 9.3 software. The outcomes of the initial analysis were utilised to redesign the TTC conveyor system for cost and design efficiency improvements. The optimum design was selected using Pugh controlled convergence method and further tested for its structural performance using finite element analysis. The redesigned model showed substantial improvements with cost reductions of 29% and an increase in design efficiency from 1.7% to 5%. Finite element analysis has also been carried out with SolidWorks 2019 to validate the structural integrity of the new concept design

Investigating the Effects of Annealing on the Mechanical Properties of FFF-Printed Thermoplastics

Fused filament fabrication (FFF) is a cost-effective additive manufacturing method that makes use of thermoplastics to produce customised products. However, there are several limitations associated with FFF that are adversely affecting its growth including variety of materials, rough surface finish and poor mechanical properties. This has resulted in the development of metal-infused thermoplastics that can provide better properties. Furthermore, FFF-printed parts can be subjected to post-processes to improve their surface finish and mechanical properties. This work takes into consideration two commonly used polymeric materials, i.e., ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) and PLA (polylactic acid) and compares the results with two metal-infused thermoplastics i.e., copper-enhanced PLA and aluminium-enhanced ASA (acrylonitrile styrene acrylate). The four different materials were subjected to a post-process called annealing to enhance their mechanical properties. The effect of annealing on these four materials was investigated through dimensional analysis, ultrasonic testing, tensile testing, microstructural analysis and hardness testing. The results showed that annealing affects the materials differently. However, a correlation among ultrasonic testing, tensile testing and microstructural analysis was observed for all the materials based on their crystallinity. It was found that the semi-crystalline materials (i.e., PLA and copper enhanced PLA) showed a considerable increase in tensile strength post-annealing. However, the amorphous materials (ABS and aluminium-enhanced ASA) showed a comparatively lower increase in tensile strength, demonstrating that they were less receptive to annealing. These results were supported by higher transmission times and a high percentage of voids in the amorphous materials. The highest hardness values were observed for the ASA material and the lowest for the ABS material. This work provides a good comparison for the metal-infused thermoplastics and their applicability with the commonly used PLA and ABS materials

Thermo-Mechanical Analysis of Dissimilar Al/Cu Foil Single Lap Joints Made by Composite Metal Foil Manufacturing

The paper presents an additive manufacturing process for the production of metal and composite parts. It is termed as composite metal foil manufacturing and is a combination of laminated object manufacturing and brazing techniques. The process has been described in detail and is being used to produce dissimilar aluminum to copper foil single lap joints. A three dimensional finite element model has been developed to study the thermo-mechanical characteristics of the dissimilar Al/Cu single lap joint. The effects of thermal stress and strain have been analyzed by carrying out transient thermal analysis on the heated plates used to join the two 0.1mm thin metal foils. Tensile test has been carried out on the foils before joining and after the single Al/Cu lap joints are made, they are subjected to tensile lap-shear test to analyze the effect of heat on the foils. The analyses are designed to assess the mechanical integrity of the foils after the brazing process and understand whether or not the heat treatment has an effect on the fracture modes of the produced specimens

Rapid prototyping by heat diffusion of metal foil and related mechanical testing

Rapid prototyping has made massive strides in the technological industries and is at the fore front of innovation. However, the majority of these methods use different types of plastic and other materials including resins and flour, for the production of prototypes. They can only be used as visual prototypes in most instances and do not provide sufficient information for direct material testing which is needed to understand the mechanical properties for large-scale production. The current methods employing powder metals have their limitations and are very expensive. There is an emphasis on the production of metal parts because they provide an environment for testing rather than approximations and usually give more insight into the design parameters. This research presents a new rapid prototyping process for the production of high-quality metal parts that can be used after production with minimal post-processing. The process is a combination of laminated object manufacturing and soldering techniques. The process is referred to as composite metal foil manufacturing, and its effectiveness is validated with lap-shear testing, peel testing, microstructural analysis and comparative studies. Specimens were produced using copper foils of 100-μm thickness. The results obtained have been promising demonstrating that the process is not only capable of producing metal parts efficiently but can also produce stronger parts compared to traditional methods. This shows that the proposed process has the capability to be a strong candidate in the field of metal prototyping

Analyzing the Effects of Tactical Dependence for Business Process Reengineering and Optimization

Implementing business and manufacturing process reengineering is challenging and poses major issues. The dependence issues between process functions during the implementation phase are the main reason for the high failure rate of process reengineering. The incompetence in identifying the dependence makes existing business process reengineering approaches static for modern business and manufacturing process structures. This paper has implemented a new process reengineering approach called the Khan–Hassan–Butt (KHB) methodology that incorporates the process interdependence algorithm to identify the dependence issues. The KHB method is a hybrid process reengineering approach to identify dependence issues before implementing changes; thus significantly reducing the failure rate of implementing business process reengineering. The KHB method has been implemented in a Bangladesh fabric manufacturing facility. The mapping and verification of the process have been completed using the WITNESS Horizon 22.5 simulation package. The case study has investigated the fabric production process and identified the dependence issues between each function and suggested changes to optimize the process. The outcome has shown significant improvement in production output and process efficienc

Hybrid Manufacturing and Experimental Testing of Glass Fiber Enhanced Thermoplastic Composites

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is gaining enormous attention from academic and industrial sectors for product development using different materials. Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) is a popular AM method that works with thermoplastics. This process offers benefits of customisation both in terms of hardware and software in the case of desktop-based FDM systems. Enhancement of mechanical properties for the traditional thermoplastic material is a widely researched area and various materials have been added to achieve this goal. This paper focuses on the manufacture of glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) composites using Hybrid Fused Deposition Modelling (HFDM). Commonly available polylactic acid or polylactide (PLA) material was inter-laced with 0.03 mm thick glass fiber sheets to manufacture GFRP products followed by tensile testing. This was done to investigate whether adding more layers increases the tensile strength of the GFRP products or not. Furthermore, the maximum number of glass fiber layers that can be added to the 4 mm thick specimen was also identified. This was done to demonstrate that there is an optimal number of glass fiber layers that can be added as after this optimal number, the tensile strength start to deteriorate. Microstructural analysis was undertaken after tensile testing followed by ultrasonic testing to assess the uniformity of the GFRP composites

Non-Destructive and Destructive Testing to Analyse the Effects of Processing Parameters on the Tensile and Flexural Properties of FFF-Printed Graphene-Enhanced PLA

The significance of non-destructive testing (NDT) methods cannot be overstated as they help to evaluate the properties of a material without damaging/fracturing it. However, their applicability is dependent on their ability to provide reliable correlation with destructive tests such as tensile and flexural. This correlation becomes more problematic when the material is not homogeneous, such is the case with parts manufactured using a popular additive manufacturing process termed as fused filament fabrication (FFF). This process also requires optimisation of its parameters to achieve desired results. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of four different nozzle temperatures, print bed temperatures, and print speeds on FFF-printed Haydale’s Synergy Graphene Enhanced Super Tough PLA through three non-destructive (ultrasonic, hardness, strain) and two destructive (tensile, flexural) testing methods. Samples were manufactured using Anet® ET4 Pro 3D printer and evaluated as per British and International standards. Two non-destructive tests, i.e., ultrasonic and hardness have been associated with evaluating the tensile properties of the manufactured parts. These results were correlated with destructive tensile testing and showed good agreement. The NDT method of strain measurement showed a very good correlation with the destructive three-point flexural test and was able to provide a reliable evaluation of flexural properties as a function of all three processing parameters. The results presented in this work highlight the importance of NDT methods and how they can be used to evaluate different properties of a material